the pentagon ever. and we look at what's next for the city of detroit as it's now been cleared to move forward with the biggest bankruptcy in u.s. history. this is "way too early." >> good morning, everybody. brian shactman. always a good show when lewis is outside the building. he is outside the building today. we'll have the reasons why later in the cooler. and, of course, i can't say i'm sad. it is a little bit of a surprise. jacoby ellsbury goes from the red sox to the yankees in one of the richest deals in history. sox fans hope it works out more like kevin youkilis than baib rouge. we'll have detai db babe ruth. vice president biden in china trying to smooth over tensions in that part of the world. he'll meet with china's

president ping. the trip was supposed to be about trade. it is overshadowed since china expanded the airspace into territory that japan also claims. the move has even affected commercial u.s. flights throughout the region. you might recall a week ago the u.s. challenged china's claims by flying two b-52 bombers through the zone without telling china which is what china had requested of everyone going through that airspace. we also want to give you a quick update on the new york train derailment. the line should be getting back up to speed this morning. union representatives say he nodded off while driving when he came to. he apparently shut down the throttle and tried an emergency braking technique. his attorney compared what happened to highway hypnosis. that drowsy feeling you get sometimes when we've been staring at divider lines for a long time. either way, it seems like he might not have been fully

focused. the investigation is on going. he said that he has a stellar record and helped passengers escape after the crash. the lawyer says his client feels extremely remorseful despite "doing nothing wrong." two weeks earlier rockefeller changed shifts to the early morning shift getting on the clock at 5:00 a.m. the ntsb says there is no evidence of mechanical failure. also want to add blood-alcohol tests have come back negative for the entire crew for the train. one other thing to note about this train, "the new york times" reporting metro north trains have alerters. they basically set an alarm off if they don't detect any activity from the engineer. when they go off, the engineer has 15 seconds to respond. if the engineer doesn't respond in time, the brakes come on automatically. this particular train did not have that technology. we'll go from new york to detroit. the motor city officially going through bankruptcy. a judge yesterday gave detroit

the green light to file for chapter nine bankruptcy protection ruling it is unable to pay $18 billion in debt. there is a march 1st deadline for the reorganization plan to be filed. the emergency manager is expected to have a fresh draft next month. outgoing mayor dave bing says it's a chance to put the city on a new course. >> we're going to have to fight. our fight has to be together. if we have a future as far as our children and grandchildren are concerned, we have to fix the problem now. we can't continue to kick that can down the road and not make tough decisions. >> those tough decisions include the city's pensions. the judge ruled billions of dollars in pensions could be cut even though michigan's constitution prohibits cuts to pensions. the state's largest employee union already filed an appeal. the ruling could have implications across entire country for retirees already struggling to make ends meet.

>> we have the american dream that if you work long and you did the right thing, you would end up being able to live comfortably. what he's done now, i don't even know how i am going to exist after january. it's already the fact i have to sit around and make up my mind whether to take my medicine or eat. what do they want me to do now? >> detroit is now the largest public bankruptcy in u.s. history. now on the topic of pensions for a second, the state of illinois tackling the own issues just hours after detroit's bankruptcy ruling. lawmakers narrowly passed sweeping reforms which include raising retirement ages and changes to cost of living increases. supporters say the moves will eliminate a $100 billion pension short fall over the next 30 years. democratic governor pat quinn says he'll sign the measure. labor unions, as you might imagine, and other opponents are vowing to fight the overhaul.

any changes violate that state's constitution. according to the pugh center, illinois pension funds cover just 45% of retirees pension and health care costs. let's move on to obama care this morning. the reboot continues today. the president will talk about the economic benefits of its health care law at an event in washington, d.c. yesterday president obama defended the affordable care act and suggested if republicans have any better ideas, they should bring them to the table. >> the bottom line is this law is working and will work into the future. we're just getting started with the exchanges. just getting started with the marketplaces. so we're not going to walk away from it. if i have to fight another three years to make sure this law works, then that's what i'll do. i've always said i will work with anybody to implement and approve this law effectively. you got good ideas? bring them to me. let's go.

but, we're not repealing it as long as i'm president. >> hhs officials also announced a surge of web traffic to healthcare.gov. more than a million people visited the site on monday. former president bill clinton spoke about the law yesterday saying the legacy will not be impacted as long as the flaws are fixed. >> if the computer problems are all fixed and it's up and running by -- and healthy in the next several weeks, i think the damage will be minimal. when president bush passed a bill to provide drug coverage to senior citizens under the medicare program, it was more unpopular when it was passed and there were lots of problems in the beginning with the computers. so the effects would be minimal? >> if it's fixed, yes, that's right. we need to see if this can be worked through. i think within four or five months people will be talking about something entirely different.

and they'll be -- and no one will want to repeal this law. they want it to work. >> the pentagon has just appointed the highest ranking woman ever and she's pretty well known inside military circles and perhaps to some movie fans as well. her name is christine fox. she is acting defense secretary. and she inspired the character in one of the flight instructor in one of the iconic movies of the 1980s. >> the mid 28 does have a problem with the inverted flight times. i won't do a negative g pushover. >> we happen to see a 28 do a drive. >> where did you see this? >> that's classified. >> it's what? >> it's classified. i can tell you but then i'd have to kill you. >> my review of your flight performance was right on. >> is that right? >> that is right. and i held something back. i see some real genius in your flying, but i can't say that in

there. i was worried that everyone in there could see right through me. i don't want anyone to know i've fallen for you. >> that gives you the cheesy chills of the 1980s. i miss them. she worked with naval aviators. obviously chuck hail wigel a pr manager. she looks a little bit like kelly mcgillis. she was just 30 years aeld. by the way, her call sign in 1985, lex. a little bit of a different era. hr would have something to do that if it were today. democrats and republicans were able to come together in the house yesterday. by a voice vote, they approved a ten-year ban on plastic guns. the law first passed in 1988 bans weapons that can slip through metal detectors. the bill now heads to the senate but democrat chuck schumer says with the rapidly evolving technology of 3 d printers, the legislation does not go far enough. >> a few years ago these undetectible plastic guns were

science fiction. they were the stuff of movies. now they're frighteningly real. it will be unimaginable for congress not to pass a strong law that closes the loopholes and bans these guns once and for all. >> the nra did not oppose the extension of the plastic gun ban but does oppose any expansion of it. now to business. later this morning the adp's employment report will be out. in terms of stocks yesterday, all three major indices in negative territory. almost 100 points in the dow which is back below 16,000. it's the longest losing streak in two months. joining us now this is a treat, kayla. >> you have to say that. >> it is a treat when anyone from state side comes on our show. >> thank you, brian. well, our eyes turn again to washington because regulators are set to vote on a key portion of the dod-frank regulation next tuesday, december 10th. it's expected to be approved. the passing of the rule will

mark an era of stricter oversight for wall street with a lot of restrictions on how banks could trade their own money. critics of the rule which is named for former fed chairman paul voluntarily beinger say it could he's the industry more susceptible to foreign competition and could damage the broader economy. and on the topic of the economy, the november jobs report is out friday. it will be closely watched. some are expecting the unemployment rate to drop as much as .5%, not because americans are getting hired but because the dip in unemployment is due to washington removing more than one million long term unemployed people off the benefit roles. jobless benefits were 1.3 million people set out to run out on january 1st. >> yeah, there is only a few days left for congress to do that. listen, amazon made a lot of news with that drone story delivering packages. it turns out they're not alone in trying this out. >> brian, the drum wars are upon us. it's not just amazon. ups and google are also testing their own versions of delivery

drones. u.p.s. neither confirming or denying the reports of the testing and a google watchdog site says the company has been testing drones as recently as february. it looks like we'll be getting drone delivery sometime soon. i'm not sure how they can get in my apartment bulgd. >> i think new york will be a nightmare when it comes to that. kayla, have a great morning. thanks for getting up early for us. all right. still ahead on "way too early," a free agent trading his red sox for pinstripes. i want to get barnicle's quick take on it, too. the big money deal that jacoby els burr lsbury is about to sig the yankees. and ron burgundy, the hard hitting questions you expect from the top man in the business. which brings us to twitter. listen, ron burgundy has been everywhere. so we want to know where is he going next? who would you want to see him interview? so ally bank has a raise your rate cd

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[ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. [ m'm... ] great taste. [ tapping ] sounds good. campbell's healthy request. m'm! m'm! good.® jacoby ellsbury is going from the red sox to the yankees. you hate when this happens in new york. the tabloids fight each other like crazy. they have the same headline. "the ellsbury dough boy."

ellsbury reportedly agreed to a seven year, $153 million deal with an option for an eighth year. the outfielder expected to add punch to the yankees lineup. he has a league leading 52 stolen bases and 134 games for boston last season. the yankees scheduled to introduce their other big signing tomorrow. he could join them in the news conference. barnicle, 15 seconds. >> good trade -- good signing for the yankees. he's a good playerment he's going to make that lineup pretty good. much better than it was last year. they had to do it, the yankees did. the tv ratings were down. the ticket sales were down. they needed a little juice in that lineup. ellsbury gets on base, they're going to grab it. >> you like it in the short term. >> seven years no trade, they'll be trying to move him in five.

>> yeah. or three. all right, mike, we'll be talking about it at the top of "morning joe." can you pretty much guarantee that. as those guys come to new york, robinson cano, could he be leaving? reports of the second baseman may be flirting with a seattle mariners. cano wants $300 million. the yankees are about $100 million short of. that the mariners need power in their lineup and barnicle talked about attendance in yankee stadium. attendance in seattle slumping as well. let's go to the nhl. we're talking about it. how about a fight? first period, antoine rusel and andrew shaw are going to drop the gloves and go at it for a while. even when the referees try to come in they keep going at it. these guys are just -- you'll get fined for punching a ref by the way. so that is that.

that is blutal. what is worse than getting bum frpd a flight? how about getting bumped on the sunday after thanks giving? that's what happened to 50 delta passenger this is past weekend. you might ask why. why are we talking about it? the florida gators, their immense basketball team had the charter flight from gainesville to atlanta canceled. the airline booted the passengers in favor of the team. florida made it to the matchup with the university of connecticut only to lose on that buzzer beater. the bump pass put on other flights and got vouchers. and now i would say since we've gone national with the story they should maybe get a little bit -- a little something more for the effort, don't you think? is bill here? do we have bill? hi bill. >> hi big guy. >> good morning, buddy. i was looking for new the house. i didn't know you were outdoors. >> it's not bad out here this morning. and that's crazy that story about the tickets. they should guarantee they go to the final fourment they get all the passengers get free tickets

or something. >> get final four tickets so they can sell them and make a profit. >> now you're talking. behind me is the rockefeller christmas tree. the forecast for the lighting tonight on nbc live at 8:00, 7:00 central looks really nice. you can't ask for better than this. it's warm. and that rain should hold off until later this evening or tomorrow morning. and the big story this huge winter storm and this arctic blast coming from canada, serious travel woes. the northern plains from minnesota all the way through the dakotas and now colorado is getting into the action. look at the weather map here. look at these wind chills. minus 14 up in north dakota. snow. we have snow really breaking out now in the high country just outside of denver. and all of this mess is going to spill into denver and mipz during the day to day. huge travel issues. as we go throughout the rest of this week, the cold air goes south.

oklahoma city, dallas, little rock, memphis. we're talking about an ice storm in the days ahead. not so much today but mostly starting on thursday. if you're traveling in the middle of the country, good luck. >> bill looking well rested out there. coming up, "morning joe." the president reboots his obama care pitch. how he is spreading the new message and how it will impact democrats running for re-election and how president clinton fits into the plan. and we'll huddle around the cooler. a true sign of the season. lewis is also outdoors. barnicle and are kind of lonely. he's near the christmas tree somewhere. it's donut friday at the office. and i'm low man on the totem pole. so every friday morning they send me out to get the goods. but what they don't know is that i'm using my citi thankyou card at the coffee shop, so i get 2 times the points. and those points add up fast. so, sure, make me the grunt. 'cause i'll be using those points to help me get to a beach in miami. and allllllll the big shots will be stuck here at the cube farm.

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we talked about jacoby ellsbury's blockbuster $153 million contract with the new york yankees. if you want to sound smart today, tell your friends the two richest contracts in baseball history were both signed by alex rodriguez back in 2001, he signed a ten-year, $252 million deal with the texas rangers. in 2008, the yankees signed him to a new ten-year deal worth $275 million which they are currently trying to get out from under. let's put that aside. our $275 million man has lights all around him. >> that's right. i have lights all around me, brian. thank you so much. the anchor man 2 publicity machine just continues to roll

on. ron burgundy stopped by "sportscenter" yesterday. he had an exclusive interview with one of the nfl's biggest stars. as you would expect, he asked all of the right questions. >> you are one of the great quarterbacks playing the game today. you've had a lot of success. and, yet, you've done it all without a mustache. you're running around out there and, i'm going to be honest, you look like a succulent baby lamb. >> i guess to tell you the truth, i never had much of a desire to grow any facial hair. i think i managed to play quarterback okay without a mustache. eli tried to grow one a while back without much success, i have to say. >> i saw that. it did not look good. >> now video games this year are featuring a new voice activated technology. they're watching everything you say. so you better make sure when you're playing you watch your mouth. >> i'll tell when you these. [ beep ] ridiculous scenarios. you're down by, like --

what? technical call for bad language? [ beep ] you, connect. oh, my god! that's ridiculous. i can't curse in my own house. >> it will be a lot of bleeps going on with me and video games. i think that's a new piece of technology we don't need. this time of year puts everybody in a holiday spirit, especially the people at movies in real life. they take famous movies and they put them in real life and re-create them and re-create them in real life situations. this is a re-creation of "a christmas story." take a look. >> i double dog dare stick your tongue on that pole. >> you guys are really dumb. >> i triple dog dare you to stick your tongue on that pole. >> all right. all right. >> well go on. [ beep ] do it. >> i'm going.

>> it really works. >> man, i really hope it's no the that cold in a subway. now, of course, standing behind me is the 76 foot tall norway spruce that is this year's rockefeller center christmas tree. now it's hailing all the way from shelton, connecticut. they're very proud of this tree. this is for stuckey and tj. this tree drinks 90,000 gallons of water every day. that's a lot of water. tonight is going to be extremely beautiful christmas tree spectacular here at rockefeller center. for those of who you may not really be able to watch it, i feel bad for you. but i figured i'd give you a little taste of what it's going to be like. so clayton, please do the honors. there you go. merry christmas. clayton, you couldn't even put my star on correctly. >> you're the one that wrapped

yourself up in lights and you told him to put that on your head. >> whatever, brian. this is all for tv. >> that's right. >> it's all for fun. >> the beard, when is it coming off? >> every day i'm going to shave a little more off. >> i like the goatee. >> took me a year to get this goatee. >> thanks, lewis. >> shelton, connecticut, the home of woofl ball, by the way. >> if you were booking burgundy's next gig, where would it be? who would he talk to? ooh, homemade soup! yeah...

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>> some people they should interview, the pope or vice president biden or miley cyrus. those are good ones. "the morning joe" starts right now.